Kapalabhati - technique & benefits explained - Sivananda Yoga

Transcript

hello and namaste once more i am arun and with me is dikshitar and today we bring you the practice of kapalabhati the word kapalabhati in sanskrit kapal meaning skull bhati meaning shining loosely translated means a glowing face and that reflects an inner state of health and well-being if you were to put it simply kapalabhati by definition gives good health and well-being to the practitioner so this is a profound meaning and a profound benefit that all of us can have with the practice of kapalabhati a simple breathing practice one of the six kriyas shat kriyas cleansing techniques that is given in the yogic texts it's also constituted as a pranayama or a practice that regulates and controls prana in the shivananda class this is the first breathing practice that we do kapalabhati is a series of rapid exhalations active exhalations followed by passive inhalations let us have a look you inhale you exhale you inhale and begin one one one and and and relax a series of active exhalations and passive inhalations the exhalations we are doing forcefully the inhalation happens automatically each time you exhale the abdomen goes in each time you release the abdomen the incoming breath happens automatically normally you would do one exhalation per second medium speed and medium force let's try once more have a look if you like you can keep your right hand on your belly around your navel area just to see the movement of the abdomen each time you exhale the abdomen goes in and each time you release the abdomen the breath goes each time you exhale the abdomen goes in and the breath comes out and each time the abdomen is released the breath goes in let's try one more time inhale normal breath exhale normal breath now inhale and begin 1 1 1 1 1 1 [Music] and and relax breathe normally relax the body relax the mind in the shivananda class we do usually two to three rounds of kapalabhati may be 30 to 60 pumpings in each round maybe 60 to a maximum of 80 pumpings in each round in kapalabhati we are using a muscular tissue which is sitting just below the river cage it's called the diaphragm and this very gently pushes against the lungs each time you exhale therefore expelling the air from the bottommost portion of the lungs so what we are doing is actually cleansing the lungs cleansing the nasal passages cleansing the sinuses and improving the entire breathing apparatus and improving the functioning of the lungs making them stronger and more efficient and able to absorb the oxygen and eliminate the carbon dioxide better let's try one more round of kapalabhati remember to keep your back straight keep your hands on your knees in chin mudra sit comfortably and concentrate on a continuous series of exhalations when i say 1 you exhale when i say 1 you exhale when i say 1 you exhale and when i say 2 the abdomen relaxes when i say 2 the abdomen relaxes normal breath inhale normal breath exhale one last round of kapalabhati inhale deeply [Music] and relax in the class after every round we also hold the breath briefly this helps to further strengthen the lungs and to quieten the mind kapalabhati also as you can see stimulates the abdominal organs so it works on the digestive and eliminatory systems it also helps in the absorption and utilization of nutrition when we do kapalabhati the abdominal movements very gently work on the stomach the liver the intestines the spleen the gallbladder the kidneys and even the colon very powerful stimulating and eliminatory practice the practice of kapalabhati you must practice kapalabhati empty stomach and in the class we always do it as the first practice after the initial opening prayer and preparing ourselves for the pranayama the surah namaskar and the practice of the asanas afterwards om that said you